Saturday, January 19, 2013

Suspend reality for a moment....


After a devastating injury to his father, Clay Thomas is abandoned by two of the people closest to him while being pursued by the local police chief for crimes he didn’t commit.  He is determined to find the culprit of a series of local robberies while fulfilling a promise to a ghost to solve his eleven-year-old murder.  Clay and his son, Tanner, incorporate their unique mind-control abilities to solve the crimes, restoring broken relationships in the process. Bulletproof, a stand-alone novel, is the third exciting installment in the Clay and Tanner Thomas mystery/suspense series.

Check out Bulletproof by Jeff LaFerney


Yearning for more?  Check out this interview with Jeff….

What is your inspiration? What helps you get through writer's block?
So far to me, writer’s block is just an inconvenience. It doesn’t last long. It’s just a warning to me that I need to think about things maybe from a different perspective. I usually get writer’s block in transition scenes when I feel I need something else before I continue with the main plot. Some of those scenes end up being my favorites.

Who inspires you? What authors do you look up to? Why?
I like Robert B. Parker’s action and dialogue; I like Harlan Coban’s twists and surprises; I like John Irving’s story-telling ability; and I like any author who mixes humor with suspense.

When did you first start writing? What genre do you prefer?
I started writing in the summer of 2009, and I’ve completed a book a year since. I really like mystery and suspense. It’s what I prefer to read too.

If you had to choose another genre to write, what would it be? Why?
I’m in the finishing stages of a time-travel adventure right now. It was very different from a mystery, but I love the science-fiction and action/adventures elements in it.

Do you have another job and if so what is it?
I’m an eighth-grade English teacher at a public school in Michigan.  Until I retire, writing will have to suffice as an awesome “hobby.” I have a blog where I try to give grammar and language tips while being somewhat entertaining at the same time. When I’m retired, teaching English on my blog will be my “hobby.”

List all of your titles with a one sentence synopsis of each.
Loving the RainClay Thomas deals with the consequences of manipulating people’s minds while fighting off a criminal and dealing with problems with his wife and son.  
Skeleton KeyClay and his son use their parapsychological abilities to solve a seven-year-old mystery about a disappearance from a train and the foul play causing a ghost’s prior death. 
Bulletproof Clay, with help from his son, solves a string of robberies for which he was arrested while at the same time solving the eleven-year-old mystery of a ghost in a haunted hotel. 

Who is your favorite character? Why?
Jasper Bugner is a midget (little person) who is in my second and third books. He’s angry, sarcastic, and somehow downright loveable. He’s always involved in mischief or humorous antics, and he comes through them all as a favorite to my readers as well.

What scenes are most difficult to write?
I always do a lot of research because I want my details to be accurate. I wrote a scene where there was brain surgery. That was hard! I’ve written political scenes or scenes with a medical examiner. Things that I have to learn 100% about before I write them are toughest, but they’re also the most satisfying.

Indie pub or trad pub?
I’ve done both. My first two books were indie until World Castle Publishing picked them up and republished them as well as Bulletproof. I plan to revert back to Indie for my time-travel book called The Jumper.

What is your favorite scene? Why?
I’m still kind of partial to two scenes. One was in Loving the Rain when I weaved several sub-plots together and had the principal characters all at an exciting basketball game at the same time. It was there that a lot of the answers came. I also loved a caving scene in Skeleton Key where Clay experienced quite a bit of suspense while reaching a conclusion that he needed to make some changes in his life.

If you could take the place of one of your characters, which one would you choose and why
I think I’d want to be Tanner Thomas. He’s an awesome athlete who has amazing parapsychological powers. He’s amazingly intense but also fun loving. He’s 18 to 20 years old in the three books, but he’s still mature, caring, and loyal.

What is your favorite TV show/movie from your childhood?  What is it now?
I’m going to say in the past it was Spenser for Hire, a series based on a detective in Robert B. Parker’s books. I like to think that my male heroes are a lot like Spenser and Hawk. Now, I absolutely love The Mentalist. I love how Patrick Jane reads people and manipulates people, and the show makes me laugh while I take notes on how to “detect” with my own crime-solving amateurs.

Links






No comments:

Post a Comment